Need Disneyland Trip Planning Advice

[captsparrowslady]

So my sister, my SIL and I want to maybe plan a trip to Disneyland (or maybe a non-disney cruise), for some time next year (2019), probably in the summer... If we did go to Disneyland, I know my sister has said that she would also want to go to Universal Studios... So I'm thinking probably 5 days in Disney and maybe 2 or 3 days for Universal... So probably a 10 day trip (I was looking at going over the 4th of July weekend, because my birthday is July 1st and I've never done Disney on my Birthday... So maybe like... arrive on June 27th, and leave on the morning of July 7th)

In the past, my mom has always been the one to plan Disney trips but she recently passed away July 2017. She loved coming here to the disboards (maybe some of you knew her, her name here was Tink2DW).

My sister hasn't been to Disneyland since she was like 7 (so like... not since the 80's) and my SIL has never been to Disney. My mom loved Disney so much she was always planning trips even though we couldn't afford to go. It was her hobby. My sister is actually my half sister and we have the same biological mom. I found her through the AncestryDNA test a few years ago (she and our mom did get to meet before she passed away). And I really think a trip to Disneyland would be a great way to honor my mom's memory.

So I've been trying to figure out how much a trip to Disneyland would cost and I don't really know where to start.

I am in AZ and, most likely, I would drive to Anaheim with my dad's van (with his mobility scooter on the back ... it's about a 6 hr drive) but my sister & SIL are in Idaho. They would have to fly into LAX.

My difficulty is trying to figure out what hotel to stay at. Normally, in past trips my parents and I would stay at the Desert Inn & Suites but they are BOOKED all summer of 2019. So I'm not sure what hotel would be similarly priced, in roughly the same location (ideally across the street from DL is what I'd like).

My other 'want' for a hotel room is either a suite with 2 separate sleeping areas that have a door between them... or hotel that is inexpensive enough to have 2 hotel rooms with a connecting door between them... as much as I love my sister and my SIL, they both snore and I can't sleep with snoring people in the same room... Free parking is also a must, since I would be driving... free breakfast would also be nice to help cut down on food costs.

Speaking of food... I have no idea how much to budget for food... I know a hotel with free continental breakfast is one way to cut down cost, but then there's still lunch & dinner costs... and I'm not sure if we would want to do a character breakfast/dinner (Not sure if they would bring my nephew with them or keep it a girls' adult-only trip).

I know that AAA offers discounts on Park Hopper tickets, so that's one way to save money... but there is so much about planning a Disney Trip that I just don't know and if my mom was still with us, I'd ask her to help... but I can't do that now... So I'm turning to the people here on the disboards for advice.

 

[Marionnette]

Either use smaller font or make shorter posts. That required too much scrolling to read it.

You will want to turn to the Disneyland board for advice on where to get the best deals on tickets and hotels. They're a very friendly bunch and can point you in the right direction.

 

[Jewel3k]

We went to Disneyland last summer and also visited Universal Studios. We stayed 2 nights at a hotel near universal and 5 nights near Disneyland. We only spent one day at Universal Studios. We could have done a second day. I believe its only about $20 to add on the second day. Instead we chose to leisurely drive to the beach and down to Disneyland checking out LA. We actually went to Disneyland that evening. We bought 5 day park hopper tickets from a website called last minute travel. You have to register for the site. Don't pay the fee. Google a free code. They have 5 day park hopper tickets for $318.06. We stayed at the Howard Johnson and enjoyed it. We had a family suite that would not work for you. I'd look into https://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g29092-d75697-Reviews-Park_Vue_Inn-Anaheim_California.html. It is across the street from Disneyland. Overnight I walked by at the end of the day I was jealous it was so close. I can't remember the food budget.

 

[kymom99]

We also stayed at the HoJo with a mousesavers discount. No free breakfast but free parking. Rooms are pretty big but you would need 2. You can always bring breakfast stuff. I went out and bought donuts, fruit, pop tarts, etc. Food prices are going to vary greatly.

 

[gottalovepluto]

Our Disneyland Forum can help with some of your q's I'm sure. Including Desert Inn being booked all summer 2019 because, yeah, no way! Seriously. My suspicion is you are encountering that they haven't opened their schedule that far out. Disneyland Resorts aren't even booking Jan 2019 yet, we move a lot slower on this Coast

https://www.disboards.com/forums/disneyland-california.26/

Free parking isn't free, it's just wrapped into the room rate. List your top hotels and their rates, add in any parking charges and THEN compare them. Don't be the person who pays $20 more for the hotel with "free" parking when the other hotel you could get for $20 less only charges $14/day for parking Likewise, free breakfast isn't free. You could always get cereal or other stuff and do breakfast in your hotel room to save money. You can preview the Disneyland website to get an idea of in-park food costs. Offsite there are a McDonalds, Panera and Subway on Harbor near the park, you can walk to McDs and Panera, I don't recall exactly about subway. There's a Starbucks in Downtown Disney as well as some to-go locations for the various restaurants. Unfortunately the one super affordable one was Earl of Sandwhich and come July 1 it will be in the process of being razed along with the rest of that end of Downtown Disney for the new hotel (Rainforest Cafe & ESPN zone are also going to be gone for your planning purposes).

Biggest cost could be tickets. Last Minute Travel has the best deals and there are usually coupons on the internet to join for free. ONLY after joining can you preview Disneyland tickets. Don't bother right now though. Summer 2019 could have new ticket prices, potentially gut-wrenchingly high if they get SWL open by then. Personally I'd take the cost straight from the Disneyland home page today and add 10%. They could certainly go up more but theoretically you should still be able to get discounts on them so maybe this will give you a starting point for a budget so you don't get blown out of the water if SWL does open and Disney sticker shocks the world with new prices. And, MaxPass is currently an additional $10/day/ticket. Google that up for more info and to decide if that's something you should be budgeting for as well.

FYI summer 2019 is a HUGE question mark for us on the DLR board. SWL is coming "2019" and no more guidance beyond that. We expect huge crowds to accompany the opening as well as potentially big changes to tickets/annual passes/max pass.

LOTS of awesome info on the DL forum!

(PS from my end something is super wonky with your font on your top post but I can't figure out what happened- if you manually made it larger consider making it smaller or just using the default font in the future, that large is hard to read ) Edit: see you fixed it! Looks fine now from this end!

 

[captsparrowslady]

Either use smaller font or make shorter posts. That required too much scrolling to read it.

You will want to turn to the Disneyland board for advice on where to get the best deals on tickets and hotels. They're a very friendly bunch and can point you in the right direction.

Sorry about the font size... I normally have to wear reading glasses but I hate wearing them while looking at a computer screen because it gives me migraines so I tend to increase the font size when I'm typing (and/or increase the browser zoom to 175% or higher)... I just forgot to make it smaller before posting... my bad.

 

[DizneyMommy]

It’s possible Desert Inn isn’t fully booked but just hasn’t released those dates yet. I know Hilton won’t let me book that far out.
We really like the Hampton Inn, Garden Inn and Embassy Suites right down Harbor. They have their own shuttle which is super convenient and cheaper than parking at the parks. It is a kneeling bus also and can accommodate a scooter I believe! It is not shared with anyone else so it is a quick trip and never full.

 

[captsparrowslady]

It’s possible Desert Inn isn’t fully booked but just hasn’t released those dates yet. I know Hilton won’t let me book that far out.
We really like the Hampton Inn, Garden Inn and Embassy Suites right down Harbor. They have their own shuttle which is super convenient and cheaper than parking at the parks. It is a kneeling bus also and can accommodate a scooter I believe! It is not shared with anyone else so it is a quick trip and never full.

Good to know... One of the things I liked about the Desert Inn & Suites was the location. The last time I went (clear back in... 2008!) my parents and I rented mobility scooters from a local Anaheim 3rd party company and Desert Inn allowed us to keep the scooters in the hotel lobby to charge over night. Then we could simply go down to the lobby, hop on our scooters, and scoot across the street and into the parks. It was great.

 

[kathy884]

We did the Camelot Inn and Suites which is in a very similar location to the Desert Inn and Suites and really liked it (actually it's a tiny bit closer to Disneyland. They have mobility scooters right over there too). https://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_R...im_Camelot_Inn_Suites-Anaheim_California.html

Here is a map that shows the location of the hotels/motels in the area. I loved staying at a close by good neighbor hotel and walking over. https://hotelguides.com/attraction-maps/california/map-hotels-near-disneyland-resort-ca.html

Camelot Inn and Suites is similarly priced to the Desert Inn and Suites too and has configurations with two bedrooms also.